Man you hit it on the head. Remember when marketing used to be fun? Remember jingles? I sure do. My kid was eating a Kit Kat after Halloween the other day and I started singing the Kit Kat song. She looked at me like I was crazy.
Marketing isn't fun anymore because fun isn't necessary. Creativity isn't necessary. Jingles aren't necessary. And they're not necessary because they don't drive shareholder value. C-suites or execs make decisions reacting to an already insane market, and then everyone else plays catch up trying to make something they can be remotely proud of.
Too many feelings here to fit into one comment. Now off I go to finish up a deck to go in a deck for a presentation about ad performance.
I love this! I quit a my first and only marketing agency because I didn’t want to do brand work for the DA’s office or people who wanted their marketing to be about how bad gen z employees are. I’m not in marketing now because I want to find the right agency. But maybe I should just do it alone the way I believe and want to.
This felt so relevant...as a marketing in the financial world I'm always trying to bring my version of facts to a C-level suite that doesn't live in my reality. It's challenging but if I'm not there to make executives and board members more attuned with reality then who will? An scrupulous CMO? Also, at the very least I can feel a little better that their ethics are aligned with mine in their investments. Phew...
Out of curiosity, from your POV why isn’t the C-suite attuned with reality? Is it because of satisfying board members? Or is it generational? Or just lack of understanding…?
I guess my particularly situation might be different because I work in a family business not a big corp. But my CEO and their family who are part of the c-suite have lived in wealth for a very long time, so their objective and view of the world is focused on their wealthy bubble (they are quite down to earth tbh). But as a marketing manager in that environment, I can see for example that I'll never be a part of their reality.
Yes, this is what's turned me off from marketing. Especially in the tech sector. I want to find a holistic solution for this problem, but as a freelancer working on their own, I'm at the whims of the norms of late stage capitalism. I wish there was a way to collectively say we weren't going to participate in these systems. Sadly there will always be a long line of people willing to do it for their (albeit minuscule) piece of the pie.
I wish we could collectively do that as well! But there are little things we can do. Making ourselves aware of what’s going on, challenging each other, and speaking up about it can have an impact too. It sounds small but I do believe it will create change over time…
Love the gusto. Agree.. I think beyond marketing there is a US culture where tech titans and unicorn chasers are the gods. There’s a prevailing idea that growth must always go up, you can always make more - why? Also, when you’re in c suite you’re surrounded by a board and other CEOs who normalize stock market over morals, they’re in a bubble immoral normalization. As for CMOs, most of them are trying to hang on to their jobs.
Doing marketing today is a real struggle if you are an ethical person, or at least you are trying not to contribute to more useless consumerism, addiction to screen and just scams. I honestly don't think it's the marketers fault (ik I'm biased cause I'm a marketer, but hear me out).
Yes, to some extent we carry some responsibility, like there are marketers that care only about getting paid or doing what's necessary to drive sales despite the (for some, horrific) consequences, so we need marketers that have a few healthy principles and an ethical sense and knowledge. But where do we draw the line? Most businesses are not fully ethical because there is no such thing as "obtained/produced ethically" in capitalism. Like if the company respects its customers and the law, it might be a provider they collaborate with that uses underpaid workers or stuff like that. Can you actually call yourself ethic if parts of your product were bought from someone that made them by polluting the planet or exploiting other people?
As nice as it sounds to go freelance and choose your own customers, a marketing beginner usually doesn't really have a choice. Like do what you believe in, but you also have to eat and pay the bills. Small businesses don't usually pay that well (that if they choose you, considering you don't really have experience). You will take what you can so you can survive and gain some experience.
There are also people that prefer to be employed and not think about all this extra work that comes with freelance, and that's also fine. You should be able to choose. Freelancing it's like having a small business, and not everyone wants to be an entrepreneur and prefers financial stability, which again, I think it's to be respected.
Yes, I do think the change comes with marketers starting more and more to say no, to tasks, to jobs, to brands. But, as long as there will always be desperate people for a job (in today's market, more so) and will accept lower pay, not sure how much this will change. The system needs to change, because I can't blame people in marketing for wanting to live, and I also don't think it's normal to do something just because people didn't ask for it (like underpaying someone, just because they don't ask for it and you can). The mentality needs to change, and there is also need for political change and authorities to maintain it, one person can't do it alone.
I only graduated a few years ago with my marketing degree and already know that’s not what I want to do for the rest of my life. People keep telling me to work for Starbucks or amazon but I just can’t bring myself to help them get richer by getting ppl to buy things they don’t need. But that’s just me
👏👏👏 As a comms professional, I feel this. I got sick of “messaging” bad business decisions that erode trust and piss off customers. Aren’t we supposed to make customers happy? I wrote about this recently, that brands have lost the plot. I do think the scales will tip in favor of the companies that are still serving the consumer and not the shareholders in the long run. The ones building their reputation and sticking by their values. I went freelance four years ago so that I could choose to work with those companies instead of being the cleanup crew, as you said. Great post!
I felt so much of what you shared—the discouragement, yes, but also the love behind it. Or maybe this is just me projecting, haha! I ran a marketing agency for 6.5 years (just sold it this summer), working mostly with creatives and small businesses—and honestly, it fulfilled my soul. Marketing, to me, was never just about ‘selling’ or making a company money. It was about helping good people doing good work get found. Every day, I felt like the connector linking someone with a real need to the person who had the solution.
Such a thoughtful read. Marketing is equal parts influence and illusion, an esoteric form of mind control that’s shaped our collective behavior. I wanted to learn it so I could see the strings, not be pulled by them.
A former Pepsi CMO once told me not to go into marketing unless I wanted a life of constant churn and instability. That advice made me rethink how I wanted to approach it, which is why I entered through design.
A book that shaped my entire lens was The Medium Is the Message. Marketing evolves with every new medium humans choose to communicate through and right now, as more people go to private social, it’s clear people are craving less advertising and more connection.
Man you hit it on the head. Remember when marketing used to be fun? Remember jingles? I sure do. My kid was eating a Kit Kat after Halloween the other day and I started singing the Kit Kat song. She looked at me like I was crazy.
Marketing isn't fun anymore because fun isn't necessary. Creativity isn't necessary. Jingles aren't necessary. And they're not necessary because they don't drive shareholder value. C-suites or execs make decisions reacting to an already insane market, and then everyone else plays catch up trying to make something they can be remotely proud of.
Too many feelings here to fit into one comment. Now off I go to finish up a deck to go in a deck for a presentation about ad performance.
Speaking of Kit Kats I hear people are saying they taste like cardboard now…so sad!
You’re dead on - marketing feels like a byproduct now of demands from the powers that be. I’m just happy we’re not alone in acknowledging it all.
I love this! I quit a my first and only marketing agency because I didn’t want to do brand work for the DA’s office or people who wanted their marketing to be about how bad gen z employees are. I’m not in marketing now because I want to find the right agency. But maybe I should just do it alone the way I believe and want to.
Just had this conversation last week. Its just not “fun” anymore and not how I saw my marketing career play out
Same
This felt so relevant...as a marketing in the financial world I'm always trying to bring my version of facts to a C-level suite that doesn't live in my reality. It's challenging but if I'm not there to make executives and board members more attuned with reality then who will? An scrupulous CMO? Also, at the very least I can feel a little better that their ethics are aligned with mine in their investments. Phew...
Out of curiosity, from your POV why isn’t the C-suite attuned with reality? Is it because of satisfying board members? Or is it generational? Or just lack of understanding…?
I guess my particularly situation might be different because I work in a family business not a big corp. But my CEO and their family who are part of the c-suite have lived in wealth for a very long time, so their objective and view of the world is focused on their wealthy bubble (they are quite down to earth tbh). But as a marketing manager in that environment, I can see for example that I'll never be a part of their reality.
not sure if that answers the question 😅
Yes!! And I think it makes perfect sense honestly
Yes, this is what's turned me off from marketing. Especially in the tech sector. I want to find a holistic solution for this problem, but as a freelancer working on their own, I'm at the whims of the norms of late stage capitalism. I wish there was a way to collectively say we weren't going to participate in these systems. Sadly there will always be a long line of people willing to do it for their (albeit minuscule) piece of the pie.
I wish we could collectively do that as well! But there are little things we can do. Making ourselves aware of what’s going on, challenging each other, and speaking up about it can have an impact too. It sounds small but I do believe it will create change over time…
Great read thank you
Love the gusto. Agree.. I think beyond marketing there is a US culture where tech titans and unicorn chasers are the gods. There’s a prevailing idea that growth must always go up, you can always make more - why? Also, when you’re in c suite you’re surrounded by a board and other CEOs who normalize stock market over morals, they’re in a bubble immoral normalization. As for CMOs, most of them are trying to hang on to their jobs.
Doing marketing today is a real struggle if you are an ethical person, or at least you are trying not to contribute to more useless consumerism, addiction to screen and just scams. I honestly don't think it's the marketers fault (ik I'm biased cause I'm a marketer, but hear me out).
Yes, to some extent we carry some responsibility, like there are marketers that care only about getting paid or doing what's necessary to drive sales despite the (for some, horrific) consequences, so we need marketers that have a few healthy principles and an ethical sense and knowledge. But where do we draw the line? Most businesses are not fully ethical because there is no such thing as "obtained/produced ethically" in capitalism. Like if the company respects its customers and the law, it might be a provider they collaborate with that uses underpaid workers or stuff like that. Can you actually call yourself ethic if parts of your product were bought from someone that made them by polluting the planet or exploiting other people?
As nice as it sounds to go freelance and choose your own customers, a marketing beginner usually doesn't really have a choice. Like do what you believe in, but you also have to eat and pay the bills. Small businesses don't usually pay that well (that if they choose you, considering you don't really have experience). You will take what you can so you can survive and gain some experience.
There are also people that prefer to be employed and not think about all this extra work that comes with freelance, and that's also fine. You should be able to choose. Freelancing it's like having a small business, and not everyone wants to be an entrepreneur and prefers financial stability, which again, I think it's to be respected.
Yes, I do think the change comes with marketers starting more and more to say no, to tasks, to jobs, to brands. But, as long as there will always be desperate people for a job (in today's market, more so) and will accept lower pay, not sure how much this will change. The system needs to change, because I can't blame people in marketing for wanting to live, and I also don't think it's normal to do something just because people didn't ask for it (like underpaying someone, just because they don't ask for it and you can). The mentality needs to change, and there is also need for political change and authorities to maintain it, one person can't do it alone.
I only graduated a few years ago with my marketing degree and already know that’s not what I want to do for the rest of my life. People keep telling me to work for Starbucks or amazon but I just can’t bring myself to help them get richer by getting ppl to buy things they don’t need. But that’s just me
👏👏👏 As a comms professional, I feel this. I got sick of “messaging” bad business decisions that erode trust and piss off customers. Aren’t we supposed to make customers happy? I wrote about this recently, that brands have lost the plot. I do think the scales will tip in favor of the companies that are still serving the consumer and not the shareholders in the long run. The ones building their reputation and sticking by their values. I went freelance four years ago so that I could choose to work with those companies instead of being the cleanup crew, as you said. Great post!
I felt so much of what you shared—the discouragement, yes, but also the love behind it. Or maybe this is just me projecting, haha! I ran a marketing agency for 6.5 years (just sold it this summer), working mostly with creatives and small businesses—and honestly, it fulfilled my soul. Marketing, to me, was never just about ‘selling’ or making a company money. It was about helping good people doing good work get found. Every day, I felt like the connector linking someone with a real need to the person who had the solution.
Such a thoughtful read. Marketing is equal parts influence and illusion, an esoteric form of mind control that’s shaped our collective behavior. I wanted to learn it so I could see the strings, not be pulled by them.
A former Pepsi CMO once told me not to go into marketing unless I wanted a life of constant churn and instability. That advice made me rethink how I wanted to approach it, which is why I entered through design.
A book that shaped my entire lens was The Medium Is the Message. Marketing evolves with every new medium humans choose to communicate through and right now, as more people go to private social, it’s clear people are craving less advertising and more connection.